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New figures from Defra show that outbreaks of bTB in cattle were at a decade-long low in March, at around 3.25%, the lowest figure since 2004, according to the Guardian website on 12 June. This follows another low figure in February, of around 3.5%. The figures also show a reduction in the number of cattle slaughtered because of bTB in Somerset and Gloucestershire.

These numbers demonstrate that the overall eradication strategy, including movement controls on cattle, is beginning to make a difference, which shows even more clearly that the culls being carried out in Somerset and Gloucestershire are not necessary to reducing incidence of the disease. The culls begun last year were not only inhumane, they also could not have affected these figures this quickly, animal welfare campaigners say.

The government faces fresh criticism over its culling policy in the light of these figures.

Dominic Dyer, of the Badger Trust and Care for the Wild, said: "These are pretty sensational figures and highly significant.

"There is no way that the badger culls from last year could have influenced these numbers at all, so the drop is purely because of the tighter farming controls that have come in over the last couple of years.

"If I was in the government I'd be shouting these numbers from the rooftops, but unfortunately they would rather keep quiet - because these figures don't justify a badger cull."

He suggested any farmer told that following a few rules could lead to the number of cattle being slaughtered for TB to be halved - as happened in Somerset in January to March this year, compared to the same period in 2013 - would take it.

"So let's now direct all our energy to ensuring that we repeat this success across the country, by doing what works, and not focusing on a badger cull which will achieve nothing." You can read the full article here.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money have been spent on equipping badger cull marksmen with radios that link them directly to police, according to a story on the Guardian website today (Friday 25 August).

The government was apparently asked by the police to equip the cull marksmen with the same communications system they use to make it easier for officers to reach any conflicts with saboteurs in remote areas where there is often no mobile signal.

Government figures have revealed that between 2016 and this year Defra paid almost £500,000 to Airwave, the company that provides the emergency services with communications equipment. Defra confirmed the equipment was provided to those taking part in the culls.

The Guardian article, by Steven Morris and Patrick Barkham, reports that activists plan to "turn the tables on the marksmen" by investing in devices that trace the signals produced by the radios, so that they can pinpoint their position and disrupt shooting.

Protesters are also planning to use infra-red night vision on drones to hunt for marksmen and badgers caught in traps.

Jay Tiernan of Stop the Cull said it would invest in detectors that pick up Airwave signals in order to disrupt shooting.

Natural England, meanwhile, has refused to release data showing the impact of the cull on other species, despite being ordered to do so last month by the Information Commissioner's Office, saying it will enable activists to identify cull zones more easily.

Shropshire Badger Group have recently kick-started their programme to inject badgers on farms around the county with the BCG vaccine against the threat of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Volunteers from the Group, which is a registered charity, began their 4-year scheme late in 2014, and were able to vaccinate over forty Shropshire badgers during 2015. However, they were forced to suspend their initiative last year due to a worldwide shortage of the TB vaccine.

Photograph: T. Pearce

The resumption of vaccination this year has only been possible thanks to the lead taken by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, whose chairman Dr Sue Mayer, herself a veterinary surgeon, has managed to arrange the direct importation of stocks of the InterVax TB vaccine from Canada. This is the same vaccine that was used successfully to inject badgers in the Irish Republic in 2016. The government department DEFRA has announced that its own vaccination programme, in the so-called cattle TB ‘edge areas’ of England, will start again in 2018. However, Shropshire is classed as a ‘high-risk area’ for bTB and there has been neither any government funding nor any government-led initiative for badger vaccination here.

Shropshire Badger Group’s scheme is being delivered free of charge by volunteer members comprising two teams of government-trained and licensed vaccinators and their helpers. The ten farmers who initially enrolled have since been joined by a further farmer who approached the Group with a request to join the scheme.

Although around 91 percent of cattle farms in Shropshire are bTB-free, there is huge alarm among wildlife groups, scientists and conservationists that present government disease control policy could mean an extension of badger culling to Shropshire as early as next year. Badgers are protected by law from persecution; it is a criminal offence to harm them or damage the setts where they live. An exception to the laws protecting badgers can only be granted under special government licence in very restricted and regulated zones, currently in certain small areas of south-west England.

Photograph: T Pearce

In 2017 the vaccination scheme will cost Shropshire Badger Group over £3000. In just the past few days the Group has managed to inject 12 badgers on two geographically and commercially separate cattle farms.

Anyone interested in learning more about the scheme is invited to check out our Facebook page, or Twitter account @shropsbadgers, or to contact Shropshire Badger Group via their helpline on 01743 271999.

Shropshire Badger Group is currently busy vaccinating badgers against bovine TB on several farms in the county, because we believe vaccination, and not culling, is the way forward to ensure badgers - and cattle - can be free of the disease.

All the work is carried out by volunteers who undertake training in their own time so that they are proficient in catching badgers and vaccinating them while causing the minimum amount of stress to the animals.

The cost of training and the vaccines themselves is borne by the group. This year the vaccination programme will have cost us almost £3,000. We welcome any donations towards our costs, and you can donate via the website donate button, here: https://gogetfunding.com/shropshire-badger-group-2/

In case anyone is in any doubt that happy, healthy badgers are a wonderful thing, you need look no further than our video:

For all our members and supporters who were not able to attend the AGM on 21st April, here is a video of the presentation to our chairman, Jim Ashley, and his wife, Jude, to thank them for looking after Shropshire's badgers for 30 years.